James Acheson’s detailed account of lobstering in Maine quickly dispels notions that the lobstermen is the eastern version of the cowboy, struggling alone for survival against the elements. In reality, he writes, “the lobster fisherman is caught up in a thick and complex web of social relationships. Survival in the industry depends as much on the ability to manipulate social relationships as on technical skills.” Acheson replaces our romantic image of the lobsterman with descriptions of the highly territorial and hierarchical “harbor gangs,” daily and annual cycles of lobstering, intricacies of marketing the catch, and the challenge of managing a communal resource.
“The book is wonderfully entertaining, and the information it contained agreed with everything I have learned during a decade of summers on the Maine coast.”
Wall Street Journal
The book is wonderfully entertaining, and the information it contained agreed with everything I have learned during a decade of summers on the Maine coast
James M. Acheson was Professor of Anthropology and Marine Sciences at the University of Maine. He was the author of The Lobster Gangs of Maine (UPNE 1988), one of the first popular studies of the lobster industry.
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